I simply love CineVox! CineVox ist the third soundtrack-label, which dominated (and still dominates by issuing CDs) the Italian soundtrack-landscape in the 60ies and 70ies. Founded by Bixio "the elder" (also a composer!), the father of composer Franco Bixio ("Bixio the younger"), who is known as part of the "trio" Bixio - (Fabio) Frizzi - (Vincenzo) Tempera (they started their careers together when composing for a couple of the later "fun" Italo-western), the label was later owned by his son and is still existing today, issuing lots of GREAT soundtrack CDs from the best years of the Italian cinema and music culture! Check out their website at www.cinevox.it!!
It is not precisely clear in which year CineVox started issuing soundtrack LPs, because the release dates are not mentioned on their earliest recordings, but from the movies themselves and from the production standards, it is definite that they started in the 2nd half of the 60ies, wherein 1967 is quite a safe guess.
As most other Italian labels, they did issue LPs and 45 rpm recordings as well (the 45rpm-recording often containing a vocal track from the movie, which was not included on the soundtrack LP! - for example check the "Quanto costa morire" and the "Gungala, la pantera nuda" 45-rpms; for a fantasic German-language article on this sub-genre of Italian exploitation cinema, please check www.christiankessler.de/dschungelploitation.com!). The following paragraphs are devoted solely to their LP waxings. However, it is not completely clear, which vinyl is their first (LP-)issue: The Second Concilium took place in 1963 (Vaticano II by A. F. Lavagnino, a 2LP-set with 1 LP devoted to music only, issued as CineVox D 33/1 in a 1000-copies print-run), but it is assumed that this 2LP-set was not their first 33rpm-release (in other words: this 2LP-set was issued a couple of years after this event took place). Also the groundbraking GASLINI jazz-score "LA NOTTE" - the highly priced original LP recording from the acclaimed Michelangelo Antonioni movie starring Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren as bored married couple, which movie was actually released to the theatres in the early 60ies - was definitly not their first recording, although it contains the "oldest" music issued by CineVox (in fact said LP was issued app. 1967 or ´68). Thei first CineVox-vinyl is 99,99% the EP "The poppy is also a flower", a bond-alike flick directed by the early Bond-director Terence Young, starring an "all star"-cast including Yul Brynner (someone I always like to watch, regardless in which "no-brainer" he acts), Gert Froebe and many "stars" from the European cinema of these days. This EP in fact already carries the acronym "MDF" in its catalogue number and actually runs at a speed of only 33 rpm to allow longer tracks being placed on the little vinyl available. Since most likely issued for promotional use only (as it contains background "noise" and the actors´ voices like some Japanese 45's, which were taken directly from the movies' "Tonspur"), it was most likely issued precisely when the movie was released to Italian cinemas, in other words in 1966 or 1967. The pressing quality of this first CineVox-item is mediocre, with quite an amount of surface noise inherent in the pressing.
However, the label immediately abandoned the EP-format for their next recording and switched to the 33 rpm LP-format from CineVox MDF # 2 on, which is actually an experimental score - and unfortunately sounding that way - by Bruno Maderna, featuring a gorgous picture cover of Gina Lollobridgida, probably alone worth the extreme price this item usually commands (it was most likely also directed at promotional use; if not, the sales figures of this LP were probably extremely low, since this is really not an item anybody would listen to a second time ... making this one of the toughest five CineVox LPs to locate).
Anyway, release # 3 was already what started to become sorts of a trademark for CineVox, a fantastic Italo-western release by one of Italians leading western-composers Francesco DeMasi. Extremely noteworthy about this recording (as well as of two other CineVox LPs) is its actually containing dialogue from the recording sessions (!) at the beginning of a few tracks, allowing the interested listener to sort of feel the "studio atmosphere". These snippets of dialogue between the composer and the musicians are very short and do not interfere with the music, so it is easy for anyone owning such an LP to cut out these pieces of "studio chatter" when making oneself a tape- or CDR-recording. As stated at the beginning of this paragraph, there are two more CineVox-recordings that also do contain such "studio chatter", which are "IL QUATTRO DELL´ AVE MARIA" and "LA BATTAGLIA DELL´ULTIMO PANZER". It is quite safe to say that this dialogue most likely interfered with the listening habits of potential buyers of such recordings (assuming that a small part of the print-run was produced/intended for sale), which makes them especially rare ... Nevertheless, the importance of this "curiosity" can not be over-estimated, because: why not? It is unusal, but has happened more than just a few times, that OST-recordings did also contain dialogue from the movie, but aside from these three recordings I do not know any other OSTs that do contain studio chatter from the recording sessions! If CineVox would have just placed one or two longer outtakes from the recording sessions at the end of side B, that would have better served the good idea and intentions (CD-producers could also consider this idea ...) ...
Also worth mentioning is the pressing quality of "LA BATTAGLIA ...": it is in fact extremely bad with lots of ticks and clicks inherent. Actually the reason is NOT the use of inferior vinly, no, the acetate, from which this recording was mastered, was severely damaged! How do I know that? In fact I had three copies of this extremely rare waxing by now and I did of course compare the clicks and pops and realized that they followed exactly the same pattern on each of the three discs! Assuming that inferior vinly (which - looking at the surfaces - was not indicated) would of course NOT lead to ticks and clicks at exactly the same seconds, the only remaining explanation is a damaged acetate disc, which caused these clicks. Rumour has it by the way, that this release was in fact withdrawn by CineVox because of the bad sound (= damaged acetate), making this CineVox-release probably the toughest one to find (by the way, there is also a short strong hiss in the last few seconds of the penultimate track of side B on the "LA COLLINA DEGLI STIVALI"-LP, which seems also to result from a damage in the acetate, because both copies of this recording I ever had showed the same "pattern" ...). Another item with severe pressing problems is the Maderna LP mentioned above (LP # 2) and also LES BICHES (MDF # 5) does contain a fair share of surface hiss ...
So the pressing quality of these recordings does indeed "vary". Thanks God it is overall MUCH better than the above paragraph suggests, making the above few exceptions the only severe pressing problems that come to my mind immediately. All other recordings, if found in immaculate shape, do only contain a very very low level of surface noise inherent in the pressing, mostly inaudible since these recordings do in fact usually contain very loud music (jazz, beat, action). Personally I would compare the overall pressing quality to that one of the C.A.M. Cms.-series, with exactly the same development: better and better pressing quality as time went by.
As with RCA Italiana, the covers were manufactured by using extremely strong cardboard, all 60ies issues were also expertly laminated, making them in fact nearly undestroyable and giving the vinyls the maximum protection possible. Even bent corners were difficult to inflict upon such covers! Again, as with all other Italian soundtrack-series´, this changed 1970 (in fact it seems that the lamination vanished on all Italian OST-LPs precisely in the same year!)! CineVox also changed to the now common softer cardboard covers, unfortunately WITHOUT lamination, from and including # 37 onwards (there are also earlier soft not-laminated covers: # 27 (F/O!), # 32 and # 33!). However, there are later exceptions, too: # 38 I've seen in both versions - the not-laminated soft-cover one being probably a second print -, # 39 does exist only with a strong laminated cover and # 44 features strong not-laminated cardboard. Cover ARTWORK is in fact most simply awesome on mayn releases. Also trusting the high attention potential of simple motifs combined with bright colours, many covers are designed as "eye-catchers" and are collected by some also for their cover artwork. My favourite covers are "BORA BORA", "PROBABILITA ZERO" and "GIUNGALA, LA PANTERA NUDA", which features a bright blue cover surrounding the fantastic SP-cover artwork (soon on this site!).
Musically speaking, the most important LPs ever released by CineVox are Umilianis recording of "CINQUE BAMBOLE PER LA LUNA D´AGOSTA", an extremely funky score for an average crime thriller by Mario Bava from app. 1972. Actually this waxing might well be the funkiest OST-LP ever recorded and nowadays commands astronomical prices due to its very limited print run. However, for people not inside the "Rockefeller league" (just joking), this score has been re-released on CD twice by now, once in the earlier 90ies by the now out-of-business SLC label in Japan (already with additional tracks) and recently by CineVox, again with a couple of nice "bonus tracks". This recording is closely followed by the other Umiliani discs as well as the three Gaslini recordings, "LA NOTTE" (a groundbreaking score regarding the incredibly effective use of jazz in the movies - also re-released on CD with a long bonus suite by SLC in the early 90ies), "LE TUE MANI SUL MIO CORPO" and "LE SORELLE".
With the print-run of each of these recordings, we are back at what we were in the beginning of the 60ies: At a time, when C.A.M. and RCA Italiana had already switched to 1000 copies (which is still a neglectable figure, anyway), CineVox was - in the later 60ies and just founded - pressing only 500 copies/release until app. 1972 or ´73, including all the aforementioned Umiliani and Gaslini-recordings! This piece of trivia-information can be verified by reading some of the booklets of their 90ies CD-releases, which state - as far as I recall in "SHANGO - LA PISTOLA INFALLIBILE" and in one or two more recent releases ("Ferrios "QUEI DISPERATI ...") - that the acual print-run of these recordings was as low as 500 copies, making them virtually impossible to find nowadays.
The following pages include all but three photos from the covers of their earliest recordings up to app. #40, excluding #1 (the EP, which I haven´t yet photographed), #21, which LP most likely was not issued (a "counting mistake" ...?) and #30 (see #1) as well as the two ULTRA-rare promo-only releases in their CJ ("CineVox Jazz")-series CJ-1 and CJ-2, "Adua e le compagne" and "La notte"!
Well, a rather long introductory statement again (there is so much to say regarding these LPs ...), but I hope it was fun reading and if you have any questions, encouragements, ideas or whatever else - including vinyl for trade or sale - (smile), please drop me an e-mail ...e-mail ... I answer all questions as fast as possible, plan to collect them and want to put them into a FAQ-section (which is planned for 2003!). The same goes of course, if you have any info or items for sale or trade available!! Happy viewing from one addict to many other soon-to-become addicts!
AVAILABLE items (visually graded: cover/record; play-graded upon request):
MDF 33/ 6: Requiem per un gringo (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino), M/M- MDF 33/ 8: Dov'e' l'Australia (Sandro Brugnolini, Luigi Maltesta), EX+/NM MDF 33/10: Bora Bora (Piero Piccioni), M/VG MDF 33/19: I due Kennedy (Carlo Savina), M/MT MDF 33/27: Nell´anno del Signore (F/O!) (Armando Trovajoli), M-/NM MDF 33/38: Strogoff (Teo Usuelli), M/M MDF 33/78: Il fascino sottile della perversione (Jack Arel) M/M MDF 33/94: Due cuori una cappella (Stelvio Ciprinai), M/M CineVox DLP 1050: Adua e le compagne (Piero Picccioni), M/M D 33/1: Vaticano II (F/O 2LP-set) (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino), NM/M
Please note: of all the listed items I have only one spare copy available; wants-lists welcomed (trade preferred!). DOES ANYBODY KNOW, WHICH LP WAS ISSED AS MDF # 33/21 ??? WANTED: the Umiliani and the Gaslini-scores, other M/M-items and missing #s!